Indoctrination.....

We've been hearing way too much about extremely liberal teachers in our public schools lately. Since when does slander become part of the curriculum? High school student and his Bush-bashing English teacher In a letter from a listener, Larry Elder points out just how bad it has gotten.

Dear Larry, My family and I are huge fans of yours. My 17-year-old high school senior listens to you as well, and has been able to hold his own with many of the liberal teachers. Most of the liberal teachers respect my son for his knowledge and logical thoughts (thanks to you!). Well, that changed this year. A new "super" liberal English teacher has been indoctrinating and not educating -- always calling President Bush names, claiming the war in Iraq was illegal and Bush should be put in jail. My son for the most part has stood up to this tyrant, as this teacher claimed he "welcomes" healthy debate. The first sign of trouble came after my son stood up to his "liberal claims" and promptly received an "F" on a paper in which the teacher wrote in red "sloppy Republican" at the top of the paper. (I have a copy of this paper if you would like to see it.) Then we had back-to-school night, and this teacher made it quite clear he enjoys flunking seniors and watching them not graduate. We went up to the teacher afterwards, introduced ourselves, and he promptly labeled our son as lazy. Understand every teacher he has ever had claims the exact opposite. Then the next day came, and the teacher started in about how Iraq was better off when Saddam was in power, how Bush should be put in jail because of the wiretaps etc., etc. (Mind you, this is an English class studying "Hamlet.") My son raised his hand to counter some of the claims, since the teacher "welcomes healthy debate." He was shut down instantly and was told he could not present his side, as he was uninformed and only going to state the "right-wing talking points," and then, get this, ready . . . "I met your mom last night, and you might have a better understanding if she didn't drink so much while she was pregnant with you." Not only insulting my wife, and my son, but clearly stating the only way to believe like we believe is to have brain damage!

When are teachers like this going to be removed from our schools? I don't want my grandchildren indoctrinated left OR right. I want them taught to think! I want them to be able to read, comprehend, add, subtract, multiply and divide. I want them to be able to recognize the Periodic Table. I'd like to be able to discuss Patrick Henry's speech, the causes for the War Between the States, and how we fought and won WWII with them. I'd like to talk about Martin Luther King and the hard won Civil Rights. I do NOT want them coming home, bad mouthing the President, no matter who he/she is, or their party affiliation, because of a teacher's personal opinions. When I was in high school, we read literature, memorized portions of a few Shakespeare plays("Friends, Romans, countrymen...lend me your ear...."), dissected sentences, interpreted poetry, wrote essays and actually learned the English language. I guess things really have changed!